Rosanna Mckenna

10/07/2023

What I learnt from the Peace and Love event last Friday
Little hands offer a new lease of light on the rigidness of adulthood.
Thinking 💭
how can I invite children to participate without the complexities that I find myself hung up on?
Give them a blank canvas and let them brighten up a dull landscape!
So greatful to for the space to explore ideas and let things emerge from new generations of joy.

06/06/2023

‘The Place’
I’d forget about this venue & another expanse of (manicured) nature in the Cheshunt golf course and next door I need to learn the names of the lake.. anyone?! I’ll look it up.
But walking around these past two days I loose myself in our very present natural and man made environment, watching people fish or the pristine golf course...you can see parts are made for us and parts on the path around the pond or the edges of the course filled with hedges nd fallen trees , having to squeeze past to continue on paths, we see the ever continual presence of nature. Your recognise the significance of paying attention to what is hidden and why is visible.
My best ideas come from just roaming. It’s a trait of mine when exploring places , even the places I grew up , there’s so much more to come across, to question, to think about.
Active research , reflections, observations. Generally noting experience of life.

16/05/2023

Putting together the base map from Fridays event. It’s such a joy spending time figuring out what I’m making 😅 just thank Mother Earth that I know it’s mostly a map and then work from there.

13/03/2023

Coming out of Hibernation .
See link in bio.
Mapping Broxbourne is what I'm working towards. And I'm starting to actually use socials again so... Let's see how we can do this.
Happy Monday.
May your ideas come to Fruition!

22/08/2022

Somewhere in between
reality and uncertainty .
Not quite sure of anything.
But assured by my exsistance.
Beginning to think again
Further then what I am.
Releasing anxiety
And being anxious constantly.
Unknown of my place
But being placed in nature.
Revealing my ideology
Contradicting my knowledge.
Reconnecting what was
Revealing what is.
Stepping away from my bubble
Stepping in to another.
Recognising freedom
Restraining my thoughts.
Observing.reflecting.being.

13/04/2022

Nothing has seemed valuable to share except for the fact that I've moved home, I wasn't registered here and I almost missed it.

Local elections are May 5th 2022.
Your chance to register to vote if you need to ends at 11.59pm tomorrow 14th April.
Link in bio
Maybe it'll remind someone?!

I'm happy to have a candidate for Labour to vote for .
The only reason I thought to register was the fact they came to our door.

Let's see what can be done to slowly make change in the UK. By golly we need it!

02/02/2021

Re-acquainting myself with the physical mapping I’d started back in 2019/start of 2020.
To digitalise these maps has felt like a big task.. but I feel if I stare a bit longer and finally get the graphic tablet out of its box, I’ll really begin to assemble some information that I’ve over looked from the wonderful groups of people I’ve met and still love talking too.

02/02/2021

Good Morning.
Heres the Blog post I put together of inspiration and research . I will be using this site to develop my understanding of what I'm doing! Lots more to add and explore but to start this is good.X

Permaculture and more predominantly Social Permaculture has subtly influenced my practice / life as an artist and person over the past 5 -6 years. I haven’t studied it indepthly but use it now as a…

01/02/2021

This is an image I made last year after being introduced to the Miro board..something that may seem weirdly complex to you but really made sense after trying to connect in my brain all the influences I’ve collected on this journey in to understanding what the hell I’m doing.
Heavily inspired by permaculture , systems thinking, creative mapping and the inputs and outs of working, living and being a human in a place where opportunities are harder to find.
I’ve written up a list of influences & research on my blog, link in bio.
Most of which I’ve recently come across .
Visual action participatory Research ... However it might be called..is undoubtedly something that is part of my practice . In my eyes ‘research’ is (to me anyway) ..in one sense the process of understanding myself within the world... and then how to share and explore what I’m questioning for a wider purpose.
it could just be called observation, reflection, listening... all those words .
I once wouldn’t understand the importance of Research within an arts /creative Practice ...kinda funny when I was studying it.. but I recognise now my interests are also what inform my on going life and work.... and in fact were constantly constructing and reconstructing our life’s ...which in my head is research ....right?!
Even if my evaluation and write ups are not the scholarly , academic type.
I feel I’m reflecting , observing , and amplifying what I learn from those past experiences.
Oh joy to start rambling again.This time it’s with more focus and enthusiasm to share what my practice is.

18/01/2021

I’ve been waiting to feel all prepared and ready ... but in reality.
Who knows!
So I’ll just tell you.
I’ve been funded by through their
Developing Your Creative Practice Fund.
Which if your interested is Open again now!!
I feel a little validated, quite excited also very optimistic and especially interested in making visible our Boroughs Arts and cultural scene .
Which is lead by our dominant Voluntary and Community Sector.
With no Arts Development Officer in our Borough for maybe 6 or so years now. Resources lost. People with less opportunities. The next generation missing out on cultural experiences this year and just general unknowing for the arts sector....
WHO DO WE REACH OUT TO IF WE WANT TO MAKE WORK HERE?!
ANYWHERE. That’s not London...or a big city.
That was my question. When I finished my degree in 2011
And again in 2014 after my MFA
I now know who now.
But we have to question it all and prove and find out what opportunities there really are.
Who’s in the room.
Who’s not.
And what is the future of our Arts Development here?!
So I’ll be speaking to our Local Arts /Cultural and Community Leads. To start.
I’m also greatful to be working with to develop an Interactive map of Broxbourne which makes visible our spaces and the people who use them.
With intention to eventually use for on-going conversations with community.
In developing an Identity for our Arts, cultural and community landscape here.

Sometimes you just have to look outside of what you know to get that bit further.

Link in bio for more info or give me a message, maybe we should chat about Arts development?!
Yeahhhhh..